y separately published work icon American Journeys single work   prose   travel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2008... 2008 American Journeys
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Only in America - the most powerful democracy on earth, home to the best and worst of everything - are the most extreme contradictions possible. In a series of journeys acclaimed author Don Watson set out to explore the nation that has influenced him more than any other.

'Travelling by rail gave Watson a unique and seductive means of peering into the United States, a way to experience life with its citizens: long days with the American landscape and American towns and American history unfolding on the outside, while inside a tiny particle of the American people talked among themselves.

'Watson's experiences are profoundly affecting: he witnesses the terrible aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast; explores the savage history of the Deep South, the heartland of the Civil War; and journeys to the remarkable wilderness of Yellowstone National Park. Yet it is through the people he meets that Watson discovers the incomparable genius of America, its optimism, sophistication and riches - and also its darker side, its disavowal of failure and uncertainty.

'... American Journeys investigates the meaning of the United States: its confidence, its religion, its heroes, its violence, and its material obsessions. The things that make America great are also its greatest flaws.' (Publisher's blurb)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • North Sydney, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Random House , 2008 .
      Extent: 332p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: 3 March 2008.
      ISBN: 9781740513166 (hbk.)

Works about this Work

Even in Kansas Joseph Pearson , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 67 no. 3 2008; (p. 38-46)
Joseph Pearson examines the US presidential election campaign in the light of Don Watson's recent account of his travels in America.
US Travel Memoir Wins Age Book of the Year Award Jason Steger , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 23 August 2008; (p. 3)
A Road More Travelled Jason Steger , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 23 August 2008; (p. 24-25)
Train of Thought Claire Sutherland , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 17 May 2008; (p. 23)
Mystery Train Glyn Davis , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 300 2008; (p. 8-9)

— Review of American Journeys Don Watson , 2008 single work prose
He's Gone to Look for America Morag Fraser , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 1 March 2008; (p. 22)

— Review of American Journeys Don Watson , 2008 single work prose
Train I Ride Delia Falconer , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Monthly , March no. 32 2008; (p. 52-53)

— Review of American Journeys Don Watson , 2008 single work prose
State of the Union: Mission Impossible Tony Horwitz , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 8-9 March 2008; (p. 28-29)

— Review of American Journeys Don Watson , 2008 single work prose
Crossing America's Heart Stephen Mills , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 15 March 2008; (p. 10)

— Review of American Journeys Don Watson , 2008 single work prose
Whimsy in the Land of Contradictions Mark Thomas , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 22 March 2008; (p. 17)

— Review of American Journeys Don Watson , 2008 single work prose
True to His Word Gillian Lord , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 1 March 2008; (p. 12)
Train of Thought Claire Sutherland , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 17 May 2008; (p. 23)
A Road More Travelled Jason Steger , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 23 August 2008; (p. 24-25)
US Travel Memoir Wins Age Book of the Year Award Jason Steger , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 23 August 2008; (p. 3)
Even in Kansas Joseph Pearson , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 67 no. 3 2008; (p. 38-46)
Joseph Pearson examines the US presidential election campaign in the light of Don Watson's recent account of his travels in America.
Last amended 23 Aug 2010 16:09:45
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